Adjustable cap



July 15, 1924. 1,501,654

P. A. FISCHER.

ADJUSTABLE CAP v Filed June 9, 1922 M Z W.

Patented July 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES PHILIP A. FISCHER,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ADJ STABLE oar.

Application filed June 9,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP A. FIsoHER, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, N. Y., in the county of New York, State of NewvYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AdjustableCaps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to adjustable caps and hats of improvedconstruction, made of cloth, or similar material.

As ordinarily made, adjustable caps comprise a body portion having oneor more openings or notches along the lower edge thereof, and one ormore constricting straps adapted to be adjusted to vary the size of thecap. The notch or opening may be in the form of an open seam, incisionor any other form of opening, either open or closed by a suitableflexible gusset.

In making adjustable caps it is common practice to make the notches sothat the two sides of each notch are of the same length. Theconstricting strap, which may be fastened to the outside of the rearportion of the cap, or fastened to the inside of the rear portion of thecap is usually made of such size that it comes down approximately evenwith the lower edge of the notch. If a constricting strap is used whichis fastened to the inside of the cap, it is common to provide a coveringstrap on the outside of the notch to conceal the opening. The coveringstrap is also made of such size that it comes approximately even withthe lower edge of the notch or opening.

In making adjustable caps, itis common practice to provide loops on thecap through which the strap or straps may be trained. These loops arecommonly made by sewing or otherwise securing the two ends of a strip ofmaterial to the body of the cap, one end being secured to the lower edgeof the cap and the other end to the body of the cap just above thestrap.

I have found that in adjustable caps, provided with a visor, that if thenotches are made so that the two sides of each notch are of the samelength, that the edge of the notch adjacent to the visor has a tendencyto project below the lower edge of the strap or 1922. Serial No.567,051.

straps as the case may be. This projecting of one edge of the notchdisfigures the cap and makes it look cheap.

I have found that this difficulty may be avoided by constructing the capso that the notch edge adjacent to the visor is shorter than the otheredge of the notch and in addition thereto, making the strap subtend thenotch and cover the adjacent corner of the visor.

By making the notches of adjustable caps so that the sides or edgesadjacent to the visor are shorter than the other edges, I have foundthat a smaller notch may be provided for producing a given range ofadjustment than has been heretofore possible.

Loops made in the ordinarymanner described above have been found to beunsatisfactory for use with any type of cap and more particularly withadjustable caps. The loop, being fastened at two points adjacent to thesides of the strap or straps, has a tendency to bind these straps andprevent them from assuming aneasy position on the body of the cap and towrinkle the cap material when the cap is adjusted to small sizes. Notonly do the ordinary loops prevent the straps from assuming their properpositions, but they also make it difficult to adjust the cap, due to thefact that it is not easy to pull the straps through loops of thisconstruction.

Accordingly, one object of my invention is to provide an improved loopwhich encircles the strap or straps loosely, and which permits thestraps to assume an easy position along the lower edge of the cap andpermits the body of the cap to adjust itself without wrinkling. I havefound that this object may be attained by fastening one end of thestrap, which forms the loop, at the lower edge of the cap, and fasteningthe other end of the strap at a point behind the strap. By thisconstruction, the strap is not constrained at the upper edge thereof,and is free to adjust itself to its proper position automatically. Thispermits both loop and strap to droop a little to conform to theconfiguration of the lower edge of the cap.

By providing an adjustable cap with a notch near the visor thereof, thenotch having the side adjacent to the visor shorter than the other side,and with a loop which permits unrestricted movement of the constrictingor covering straps, the size of the cap may be adjusted more easily thanhas been heretofore possible. The strap on the outside of the notchconceals at all times the lower edges of the notch and the corner of thevisor by subtending the notch and overlapping the adjacent corner of thevisor, and. only a very small notch is necessary to pro: vide acomparatively large range of adjustment.

The invention will be further described in connection with theembodiments thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but it isto be .understood that the invention is not limited to the specificembodiments thus illustrated and described, and that variations andmodifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing,

'Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a cap embodying the invention, thecap being provided with a constricting strap secured to the outside ofthe rear portion of the cap;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view showing the notch construction of a capsimilar to that shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a cap similar to that shown in Fig. 1,except that a constricting strap is provided which is fastened to theinside of the back portion of the cap, a covering strap being providedon the outside of the lower edge of the cap;

Figs. 4 to 8 inclusive, show various ways in which the loop may beattached to the Figs. 9 and 10 show two forms of loop which may be used;and

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view showing a modified construction.

Referring to the drawings, more particularly to Figs. 1 and 3, it willbe noted that my improved cap comprises a body portion 1, made in anyordinary manner, and having a visor 2 secured to the lower edge of thefront portion of the cap. A ball and socket fastener 3 may be providedfor the purpose of detachably securing the front portion of the body ofthe cap to the top of the visor. The notch 4 which may be provided forthe purpose of adjusting the size of the cap may be made in any ordinarymanner, as by cutting the body of the cap, or providing an open seam.The side 5 of the notch 4 should be made substantially shorter than theside 6. There may be a lining on the inside of the notch as shown inFig. 2 at 18.

As shown in Fig. 1, the constricting strap 7 is fastened to the loweredge of the rear portion of the cap' and extends along the edge of thecap to a point above the visor, where it may be engaged by the end. ofthe strap which extends along the other side of the cap. Theconstricting strap 7 is adapted to be adjusted by any suitable means,such as the buckle 10, and it will be noted that the width of the strap7, in the immediate Vicinity of the notch 4 is such that the strapextends well below the bottom of the shorter side 5 of the notch, thusinsuring complete concealment of this corner at all. times.

As shown in Fig. 3 a constricting strap 7 is secured to the inside ofthe cap and extends out through the side of the cap through an openingor slit 8. A covering strap 9 is provided on the outside of the cap, thecovering strap and constricting strap being interconnected and adaptedto be adjusted at the front of the cap by any suitable means such as thebuckle 10.

In Fig. 6 the constricting strap 14 is shown fastened to the edge 6 ofthe notch instead of being continuous around the back portion of the capas shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

As shown in Fig. 4 the loop 11 is fastened to the cap by sewing orotherwise attaching the end 12 to the lower edge of the body of the capadjacent to the visor, and by fastening the other end 13 at the sameline, that is, at the line of contact between the lower edge of the bodyof the cap and the visor. The ends 12 and 13 of the loop 11. aredisplaced from each other, the object of this displacement being toavoid the formation of a bunch or lump of material at the points wherethe ends are fastened. A further advantage of this construction lies in.the fact that the loop maintains its proper vertical position betterthan it does when the two sides of the loop are side by side as shown inFig. 6.

In the modification shown in Fi 5, the end 12 of the loop 11. isfastened to the lower edge of the body of the cap adjacent to the visorand the end 13 is fastened to the body of the cap at a point back ofthe, strap 14, the point being between the upper and lower edges of thestrap. This construction avoids the formation of a lump where the endsof the strap are attached.

The loop 11 shown in Fig. 6, is attached to he cap by fastening bothends 12 and 13 at the lower edge of the body portion of the cap, the twoends being side by side.

The loop 11 shown in Fig. 7 comprises a continuous band of material, theband being formed by sewing the two ends of the strip of material.together. The band may be at tached to the cap by stitching or otherwisefastening it at or near the lower edge of the body portion of the cap,back of the strap.

In Fig. 8', the end 12 of the loop 11 is fastened to the lower edge ofthe body of the 1 cap, and the other end 13 of the. loop is doubled backand fastened on the inside of the end 12.

From the modifications shown in Figs. 4 to 8, inclusive. it should beapparent that the form of loop may be varied in many respects withoutdeparting from the principle of the invention.

The loop may be made of any suitable ma terial, for example, it may bemade of the same material of which the body of the cap is made, or itmay be made of different material. Fabric, leather. or other flexiblematerials may be used for making the loop. Furthermore, a single loopmay be made of two or more different kinds of material.

The loop 11 shown in Fig. 9 consists of a narrow piece of tape which maybe fastened as shown in Fig. 9, or may be fastened in any of the waysshown in Figs. 4 to 8, in elusive, or their equivalent.

In Fig. 10 a loop is shown comprising two kinds of material. The portionmay be made of heavy material, such as that composing the body of thecap, and the portion 16 may be made of thin material. The two pieces ofmaterial may be fastened together in any suitable manner as shown at 17.The end 12 may be fastened to the lower edge of the cap on the outside,and the end 13 may be fastened on the inside so that the portion 16 isconcealed by the strap or straps of the cap.

The modification shown in Fig. 11 comprises a notch having the frontedge 5 longer than the rear edge 6. The strap 7 is fastened to the loweredge of the back portion of the cap and preferably extends down lowerthan the edge 5. It will be noted that in this construction a portion ofthe notch is not covered by the strap 7 but the upper end of the shortside of the notch is secured to the upper end of the other side of thenotch so as to be supported at this point. By this construct-ion, aslightly more flexible adjustment may be made than with the constructionshown in the other figures.

From the above description it will be apparent that when theconstricting straps and the covering straps are trained through theloops, the strap on the outside of the notch conceals the lower edges ofthe notch in such a manner that it is impossible for the front edge ofthe notch to slip down below the straps. Furthermore, the straps arefree to adjust themselves to cover the corner of the visor, this freedombeing due to the int proved loop construction. The improved cap may beeasily adjusted to any desired size. a wider range of adjustment beingprovided for a given size notch than has been heretofore possible.Furthermore, wrinkling of the cap is entirely avoided since theconstricting strap of the loop encircling this strap are entirely freeto assume an easy position.

The improved cap may be manufactured at very low cost. The improvednotch construction does not require any extra operations, it beingmerely necessary to cut the front of the cap a little higher than therear portion. The improved 100 may he attached to the cap more easilythan can the loops of ordinary construction. The improved loop ispreferably secured so that both e of the strap which formsthe loop are itened along the same line. If this -onstrtiction is employed theloop'may be sewed or otherwise fastened to the cap. by a sin operation,whereas, the ordinary loops require at least two operations in order tosew the loop atthe bottom of the strap and also at the top.

Furthermore, in sewing the ordinary loop to the cap it has been foundneces take extra precautions to avoid sewn strap to the bod of the capalong with. the loop when the upper end of the loop is sewed to the cap.

It is to understood that the and proportions of the various parts may bevaried without departing from the principle of the invention which isnot confined to the particular embodiments shown and described, but isintended to include such modifications thereof as fall within the scopeof the appended clams. For example, the improved construction may beemployed with a cap which does not have a visor. In this event. thenotch is preferably made so that the edge to which the constrictingstrap is attached is substantially longer than the free edge.

I claim:

1. In a cap, the combination of a strap along the edge thereof, a loopadapted to encircle said strap loosely, said loop being fastened to thecap near the lower edge of said cap only, said loop being free to assume an easy position around said strap.

2. In an adjustable cap, the combination of an adjustable strap alongthe edge thereof, and a loop adapted to encircle said strap loosely,said loop being fastened to the edge of said cap near the lower edge ofsaid strap only, said loop being free to assume an easy position aroundsaid strap.

3. In a cap, the combination of a strap along the edge thereof, a loopencircling the strap loosely, and arranged so that the upper partthereof may swing away from the body portion of the cap to permit thestrap to assume an easy position along the lower edge of the cap.

4. In a cap, the combination of a strap along the edge thereof, a loopadapted to encircle said strap loosely, said loop comprising a strip ofmaterial having the two ends thereof secured to the lower edge of thecap, and displaced from each other along the lower edge of the cap.

5. An adjustable cap comprising front and back portions, a visor securedto the front portion, and an adjustable strap as sociated with said backportion, the said cap having a V-shaped notch in the lower edge thereofbetween the said front and back portions, the side of the notch adjacentto the visor extending up from the visor and being substantially shorterthan the other side of the notch, the upper end of the short side of thenotch being secured to the upper end of the other side of the notch atsubstantially the upper edge of the strap so as to be supported at thispoint, and the width of said strap in the immediate vicinity of theshorter edge of the notch being substantially greater than the length ofthis edge of the notch, whereby this edge of the notch U is normallycompletely covered at all times.

6. An adjustable cap provided with a visor at the front portion thereof,and having a notch in the lower edge of the cap adjacent to one end ofthe visor, the side of the notch adjacent to the visor beingsubstantially shorter than the other side of said notch, a strap alongthe lower edge of said cap, and a loop adapted to encircle said straploosely, said loop being fastened to the cap near the lower edge of saidcap only,

7. An adjustable cap provided with a visor at the front portion thereof,and having a notch in the lower edge of the cap adjacent to one end ofthe visor, the side of the notch adjacent to the visor beingsubstantially shorter than the other side of said notch, an adjustablestrap along the lower edge of said cap and covering a corner of thevisor, and a loop adapted to engage said strap loosely, said loopcomprising a strip of material having the two ends thereof secured tothe lower edge of the cap near the edge of the visor, the two ends ofsaid loop being displaced from each other along the edge of the cap.

8. A cap, comprising front and rear portions and having a notch alongthe lower edge of said cap between said portions, a visor secured to thefront portion, the edge of the notch adjacent the visor beingsubstantially shorter than the other edge, a loop secured to the frontportion of the cap at the lower edge thereof only, and a strap runningthrough said loop, and covering the lower end of the shorter edge of thenotch and a portion of the adjacent upper surface of the visor.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature. Y

PHILIP A. FISCHER.

